Embark Creative | Graphic Design • Social Media • Creative Communications

To Yelp or Not to Yelp

May 15th, 2012 by Jala

I use Yelp. Not often, but once in a while. A conversation I had with a friend the other night inspired me to do some investigating into some of Yelp’s shady business practices (at least I think they’re shady). She explained how glowing reviews she made on Yelp about her new favorite burger joint had been deleted by Yelp. The restaurant was contacted by Yelp and told that if they didn’t pay a $500 fee for their account, comments would continue to be deleted. Upon further research I’ve found out a bit more about Yelp’s filter policy. This guy has some issue with it, too.

What? Is this for real? Apparently, it is.

According to Wikipedia, Yelp is “…. a company that operates yelp.com, a social networking, user review, and local search web site.” Let me get this straight…Yelp is a social network and review site that filters reviews. What’s wrong with this picture?

Have you had any experiences with Yelp’s controversial filter policy? I’d love to hear about it.

Just ran across this article since I posted this blog. The article doesn’t specifically address how to deal with sites like Yelp who filter reviews, but it does give some good advice on how to respond to negatives reviews online.

Tags: user reviews, yelp

Posted in social media | No Comments »

Using Pinterest As a Brand? Follow In This Company’s Shoes — I Mean, Boots

Feb 15th, 2012 by Jala

Don’t assume the last time I blogged about Pinterest would be my last. Far from it.

Sure, Pinterest may just be a lot of pretty pictures, but it’s a social network, in case you happened to forget. If you’re a member of Pinterest, there’s a good chance you, and most of its members, are using it for what’s it’s meant to be used for — a virtual pinboard. If you’re a brand, you’re probably creating boards embellished with product — hopefully more.

But either way, don’t forget about the “social” part, especially if you’re a brand.

I ran across a really good example of company who’s rocking their Pinterest presence. No, it’s not any of these — although they’re doing great, too. Think boots. Yeah, boots.

I decided to create a board of suggested things to do while in Austin for SXSW, and was pleasantly surprised to get a response, from a brand, to one of my pins today. Kudos Allen Boots! What did they do so right? Check this out:

They commented on my pin. If you’re managing a brand’s Pinterest page, are you monitoring Pinterest for brand mentions and engaging with Pinners?

They’re not just Pinning product — their boards are fun. ‘Cowgirl‘, ‘Mason Jars‘ and ‘Tailgating Fun‘ — to name a few. They’ve thought strategically about other interests their customers might have…a great way to grow your fan base.

And, they’re sharing their Boards and Pins on Twitter:

So if you’re a brand, and haven’t quite figured out if Pinterest is a good fit for you, Allen Boots is a great example of how you might be able to use it. More than that, they’re an even better example of how you should use it.

Posted in marketing, Pinterest, social media | 2 Comments »

What’s better than 10,000 Tweets? A lot.

Feb 7th, 2012 by Jala

Milestone are usually cause for celebration. Apparently I’m hitting one today — my 10,000th Tweet. Since April 16, 2008 I’ve Tweeted 10,000 times. I didn’t even realize I was nearing such a momentous occasion, one of my Twitter followers pointed it out, twice (thank you @RufioJJ).

So, should I celebrate? Is this a big deal? Is it even blogworthy?

I admit, whole numbers can be sexy, especially when they’re large. But maybe getting fired up over number of Tweets sent is a bit overzealous. Self indulgent even.

When it comes to Twitter, I think there are more important accomplishments to celebrate. Here are a few:

• Have you shown your followers who you are, and what you do? — Represent you, and your business, genuinely. Avoid being just a persona. Translate your knowledge, skills, passions and personality online, just as you would in person.

• Have you cultivated a Twitter network of people you respect, appreciate, learn from and enjoy engaging with? — These people contribute, positively, to your day and make your time on Twitter worthwhile.

• Are you creating conversation? — Are your Tweets retweeted? Are your questions answered? Do your jokes get “laughed” at? No? Spend some time rethinking ways to create conversation with your audience. What do they want learn from you? What makes them think, or laugh? Conversations strengthen relationships.

• Have you been added to Twitter Lists? — Ok, so this IS a number benchmark. But the difference is that it measures how relevant your followers think you are. If they’ve listed you, they’re paying attention to you. They’ve taken the time to categorize you, and your Twitter content. You’ve made an impact on someone (usually positive, not all lists give reasons to puff up). Have you looked to see who’s listed you and what lists they’ve put you on?

• Are you helpful? — Have you connected people, or companies, who can help each other out? Have you given someone a lead on a job? Have you suggested a restaurant for someone to try out in your city? Maybe you should. It’s easy. It only takes half a minute.

Just like anything else, it’s about how you feel at the end of the day. 10,000 Tweets or 10 Tweets. It’s not how many you have, it’s what you’re doing with them. What are you doing with your Tweets?

Image: Flickr/KB35 (Creative Commons)

Posted in creativity, social media, twitter | No Comments »

A Bag a Day at SXSWi

Feb 2nd, 2012 by Jala

You may not associate SXSW Interactive with sights, sounds and smells, but that’s all I think about when the #sxswi hash tag scrolls through my Twitter stream. It’s been three years since I’ve attended, so I’m do for a reunion with Austin and it’s beloved technology geekfest.

One of the things I’m really excited about this year is that I get the opportunity to give away some really great laptop bags from Clark & Mayfield. Interested?

If you’re going to the conference, and you’d like to win a bag, do ALL of the following:

• ‘Like’ Clark & Mayfield’s Facebook page

• Follow @cmbags on Twitter

• Retweet any Tweet from Clark & Mayfield about the giveaway between now and March 13th

• Be the first person to find me (in the Austin Convention Center) when you see Clark & Mayfield Tweet “We are giving away a bag right now at #sxswi near (we’ll let you know where we’re at). Be the first person to find us!”

You’ll have four, yep…I said four, chances to win. I’ll be giving away a bag a day on:

Saturday, March 10th

Sunday, March 11th

Monday, March 12th

Tuesday, March 13th

Looking forward to seeing you in Austin in March!

*winners only eligible to win once

Tags: sxsw

Posted in events | No Comments »

Pinterest Statistics

Jan 11th, 2012 by Jala

I don’t need to be the 4,237 person to blog about the popularity of Pinterest. What I will do is give you some stats, which is limited considering the newness of the platform. I’m writing a Pinterest strategy for a client and have collected some numbers. Hope they’re useful to you.

Pinterest launched in the Spring of 2010
Visitors average 58% female between the ages of 25 and 44 (59%) in 12 weeks ending December 17, 2011
Site grew from 1.2 million users in August 2011 to 4.5 million in November (4,000% growth in 6 months)
Ranked #9 while Google+ ranked #10 in the Hitwise Social Networking & Forums category in the U.S. during the week ending December 17, 2011
Greatest share of visitors from California and Texas (social networking trends show majority of visitors from the Northeast — Pinterest’s visits lean to Northwest and Southeast)
11 million total visits during the week ending December 17, 2011, almost 40 times the number of total visits for one week ending June 28, 2011 (just six months previous)
iPhone app available
Named to Time Magazine’s Top 50 websites of 2011

I, of course, have a profile. Check it out if you’d like.

Sources: Experian Hitwise, Pinterest.com, {image via pinterest}

Tags: pinterest, pinterest info, pinterest statistics, pinterest stats

Posted in creativity, social media | 5 Comments »

What’s Wrong With Being Wrong?

Jan 5th, 2012 by Jala

Nobody likes being wrong. Nobody likes to be criticized. And nobody likes to make mistakes. If you do, you’re better than me, and probably a lot of other people.

Brands, especially, get a little freaked out when they screw up. And even more freaked out when they’re called out about it…in front of hundreds, or thousands, of people.

Social media has changed the game for brands who, are now, up for a huge amount of public scrutiny. Rather than complaining about really bad customer service to my friends at a dinner party, I can post that same complaint on a brand’s Facebook wall for their entire fan base to see. Might make me feel good — the brand?…not so much.

Some brands have panicked so severely from consumer criticism on Facebook that they’ve removed posts and changed settings to prevent their remaining fan base from finding out about their ‘oops’. Heard about…

• Versace

• Netflix

• Caribou Coffee

• Chapstick

• Chiquita/Dole

…to name a few?

Now I’m not talking about brands deleting comments that may be vulgar, racist, or harmful — that’s a whole other issue. We’re just talking about negative feedback about products, services, policies and business practices.

I’ve witnessed a handful of situations (working with brands) where a complaint from a fan in social media went from negative to awesome very quickly. Not only were we able to maintain the fan, they became even more respectful of the brand because we addressed their concern. And guess what — they let everyone know how awesome they thought we were afterwards. Hello!

Any social media nut (uh humm) will tell you that if a brand chooses to open themselves up to public conversations online, they need to be ok with, and prepared for, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But why are so many not? Why are brands unprepared to turn a negative into a positive, and no into a yes, an enemy into a super fan? Why are brands afraid of being wrong?

Image: Neil T/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Tags: facebook, mistake, social media

Posted in social media | 2 Comments »

I Want a New Drug, Called Blogging

Jan 2nd, 2012 by Jala

New Year’s resolutions have never really been my thing. Mostly because there are too many other times throughout the year that I’m inspired to do something differently, or for the first time. Once a year just doesn’t cut it for me.

This year’s January 1st just happens to fall at about the same time I’m making some major changes with Embark. And with those changes come a list of things that, you guessed it, I need to start doing differently, better, or for the first time.

High on my list? Blogging.

You’d think that, because I’m a social media, online, new media and communication junkie, blogging would be my drug. You’d also think that, because I know how and why blogging contributes to business, I’d be all over it. Not so much.

When I launched this blog, I had no intentions on being a regular blogger. It wasn’t part of my own business strategy. There are a lot of reasons why I’ve (intentionally) avoided blogging (although not completely, I obviously have an infrequent blog history right here).Those reasons wouldn’t matter to you. What is important is I’ve realized…it’s time. But I’ve spent so much time hiding behind Twitter (very comfortably) that I feel like I’m starting to date for the first time after being on a long hiatus —awkward and uncomfortable.

I’m familiar with all of the usual blogging tips — the how, why, when, what, et al. But I’m curious to hear what kind of advice you have for me as I embark on this journey. Anything new, personal, success and failure stories, warnings, encouragement, a good joke? I’d welcome it all! Willing to share?

Tags: blogging

Posted in blogging, marketing | 2 Comments »

#thinkndrink — 2 Years of Awesome

Nov 17th, 2011 by Jala

What are the right ingredients to a meetup (Tweetup) that doesn’t suck? Maybe there are no ingredients. Maybe it’s serendipity.

That seems to be the awesomesauce that has carried #thinkndrink through to two years. I won’t go into the details of what #thinkndrink is or how it started…you can read about it here. This no strings, no rules, no speeches weekly gathering has created a fair amount of significant relationships between its followers…without even trying. A cult? Not so much (that does sound more exciting, though). But, among its conversations, you will hear a theme of shared creative drive, a love of Portland and its potpourri of talent, collaboration, and a curiosity about the possibilities and out-of-the box thinking.

Thanks to all of you lovely, inspirational people who have hit up one, or nearly all, #thinkndrinks over the past two years. I look forward to the next year of, well, whatever YOU make it.

See you tomorrow night, November 18th, for #thinkndrink at EastBurn.

Tags: #thinkndrink, meetup, Portland, tweetup

Posted in creativity, social media, twitter | 2 Comments »